Download Mr. Patrick Ziegler June 26, 2015 Page Dean R. Long 548 Font

Dean R. Long
548 Font Grove RD
Slingerlands NY, 12159
June 26, 2015
Mr. Patrick Ziegler
Town Supervisor Town of Ballston
Town of Ballston
323 Charlton Road
Ballston Spa NY, 12020
Dear Mr. Patrick Ziegler:
I want to express my support for the proposed sewering of a portion of the
Town of Ballston and the area adjacent to Ballston Lake. I was a resident of the
town for over 18 years and lived on or near Ballston Lake during that entire
time period. Also during my professional career I have been involved in
research work on lake ecology and lake management issues on Lake George,
Saratoga Lake, Lake Ontario, and Cranberry Lake
Waste water collection is necessary to both protect human health of the
community and reduce nutrient loading to Ballston Lake as well as other water
resources in the community. On the Town web site the Summer 2013 Pipeline
newsletter identifies and describes the common impacts that occur in a lake
as a result of onsite waste water treatment by septic tanks and leach fields.
Frequently, septic systems found in poor soils and near the lake shore area will
become seasonally flooded which will increase the overall loading of readily
available phosphorous compounds( reactive phosphorous) to the lake. These
available forms of phosphorous immediately contribute to algae growth once
the contaminated shallow ground water enters the lake.
Mr. Patrick Ziegler
June 26, 2015
Page 2
An issue that the Ballston Lake Protection and Improvement Association
requested that I comment on is the expected outcome of the sewering plan as
it relates to Ballston Lake. Lakes are complex and the water quality that is
observed is related to nutrient loading from the watershed, internal nutrients,
the biological communities and the water chemistry of the water body. The
immediate reduction in phosphorous load from removal of septic leach fields
may reduce the overall amount of phosphorus entering the lake by 10-30%. In
general lakes will respond to nutrient reduction caused by sewering in a time
period that is related to the lake flushing rate. The flushing rate of Ballston
Lake is roughly nine months so the first changes in the lake will be seen within
a year of the sewer installation. This pace of change was observed on Saratoga
in 1977 and 1978 following sewering of the lake shore area of Saratoga Lake.
The first change is to have a decrease in the algae growth which increases
water clarity. The unfortunate outcome of better water clarity at Saratoga Lake
was rapid growth of Eurasian Watermilfoil that had enter Saratoga Lake in the
mid 1970’s. Due to poor water clarity at Saratoga Lake the plant community in
the lake was limited, therefore Eurasian Watermilfoil was able to spread and
dominate the natural plant community in Saratoga Lake. At Ballston Lake
there is a well-mixed plant community that may limit the rapid spread of any
one plant. Once the immediate water quality changes have occurred there
will be a variable rate of changes due the amount of nutrients within the lake
sediments, shallow ground water inputs, soils and annual fluctuation in
weather patterns. This pattern of recovery is described in Restoration and
Management of Lakes and Reservoirs 3 rd. Edition by G.D. Cooke, E.B. Welch,
S.A. Peterson and S.A. Nichols Chapter 4 Lake and Reservoir Response to
Diversion and Advanced Wastewater Treatment.
Reducing one important nutrient source will create long-term benefits the lake,
perhaps not as fast as we would like or the changes may create some other
issues, but in the future, there will be improved water quality in Ballston Lake.
Mr. Patrick Ziegler
June 26, 2015
Page 3
Thank you for all yours efforts on the behalf of the Town of Ballston and
Ballston Lake.
Sincerely,
Dean R. Long [email protected]
cc. Timothy Szczepaniak
John Antoski
William Goslin
Kelly Stewart